Why NASA Seems To Be Everywhere You Go

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California: Ames conducts wind-tunnel tests and astrobiology research--the study of what life might be like on other worlds. Moffett Federal Airfield and the Software Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia--are Ames subsidiaries.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California: the birthplace of Sojourner, Cassini, Galileo, and most other unmanned NASA space vehicles, JPL specializes in the robotic exploration of space. The labs network of bases in the Mojave Desert, Spain, and Australia communicate with spacecraft.

Johnson Space Center, Houston: mission control, where astronauts train in a giant pool to simulate spacewalking. JSC coordinates the development of the International Space Station. The White Sands Test Facility, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is part of JSC.

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland: specializes in supersonic- and subsonic-engine design.

John F. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida: receives all the different pieces of a spacecraft, readies them for takeoff, and launches them.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland: manages satellites, with branches at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.